End the unfairness of official bilingualism. Stop wasting our tax dollars.

26 February 2017

St. Pat's Day Lunch + John Trent

Our St. Patrick's Day Lunch will be held on March 18th at Kars Community Hall, 1604 Old Wellington St., Kars, Ontario. For details, please refer to the attached flyer.

Ron, President of (Greater Ottawa Transport Association) will be our Master of Ceremony.

We have two very well-known speakers:

a. Liz Marshall - Director of Research for the Ontario Landowners' Asso.,

Director of Research Ontario Landowners Association

Author – Property Rights 101: An Introduction”

Secretary – Canadian Justice Review Board

Legal Research – Green and Associates Law Offices, etc.

Legislative Researcher – MPs, MPPs, Municipal Councillors.

President All Rights Research Ltd.,

Steering Committee – International Property Rights Association

b. Dr. Elsa Scheider - an educationalist who writes on many issues. We attended a talk organized by ACT for Canada last June. The talk was about our education system which Elsa refers to as indoctrination:

As a researcher, Elsa knows where to look for information & she agreed to put together some thoughts on French Immersion. There will be good & bad things on this topic that will be of interest to parents & grand-parents who are upset at the concept of English-language schools being abandoned for French Immersion schools.

Registration will start at 11:00 am & Lunch will be served at 1:00 pm. See details attached. We will be catering from North Gower Pizza with chicken pieces for non-pizza lovers.

To order the correct amount of food, we need to know the number of people attending. If you're considering attending, please let Beth or myself know. You can pay at the door - we just need to know the approximate number to cater for. The pizza parlour needs to know by Thursday, March 16th. Tickets can be mailed to you soon as we get your address.

Kim McConnell

John Trent is very frustrated that he cannot bully Mayor Jim Watson & the City Councillors to cave to his demand that the City Of Ottawa be forced to declare itself as Officially Bilingual. He is resorting to SARCASM & down-right lies to make his case. Canada is not OFFICIALLY BILINGUAL. The Federal Government provides services in both English & French "where numbers warrant"; this applies to the courts as well. However, the OLA does not apply to the provinces EXCEPT for New Brunswick, the only province that declared itself officially bilingual. Quebec declared itself uni-lingual French by passing numerous anti-English laws, Bills 22, 178, 101. This paranoia about preserving, promoting & protecting a language which is diminishing domestically (proportionately speaking) & is 9th on the world stage is NOT acceptable!!! Many people THINK that Canada is officially bilingual - it is NOT!!! The OLA is just an Act of Parliament which can be re-written if enough Canadians are upset enough to demand it. The French-speakers have been given too much power & influence for too long - time to speak up & say so.

Don Forbes was very frustrated because many of his letters written to the MSM have been ignored. He sent me several well-written letters printed in the Ottawa Citizen (one from Tom Spears - Dec/16/16 & another from Don Butler - Dec/31/16) - both very informative. Just ask for them if you're interested.

I managed to get a copy of John Trent's letter, along with some comments from the Press Reader. Read those comments & add your own. Keep your comments polite but factual - we have to educate more Canadians to this destructive & divisive policy.

And I am also sorry about raining on your parade. I know a lot of people are putting a lot of effort into making the 150th celebration a real success.

My only excuse is that Mayor Jim Watson made me do it. He is the one who refuses to recognize the equality of both official languages of Canada’s capital. That is, he refuses to ask Ontario to change the City of Ottawa Act to make French and English officially equal. He is responsible for me thinking it is hypocritical for Ottawa to pretend to be Canada’s capital city when he willingly ignores one-half of Canada’s French-English equation.

A bilingual country merits a bilingual capital. More than 85 per cent of Canadians agree.

Perhaps I should not blame Watson alone. After all, Ontario’s government has being sitting on its hands for years saying it is waiting for Ottawa to invite it to act in its own area of jurisdiction. Then there is the federal government. It was asked to confirm to Ottawa that it would cover any possible additional costs of official bilingualism in its capital city and all Justin Trudeau could do was to make jokes about it. And this is the son of the man who made Canada officially bilingual.

An officially bilingual capital would be a beacon to all Canadians, both English and French. It would be a signal to the world about Canada’s identity. And it would be a little step forward for Canadian federalism by demonstrating to Quebecers and all Canadians that our federal regime can always move ahead.

Being a capital with two languages would also help to make Ottawa a global capital and a magnet for world business, tourism and conferences. It would be a moneymaker for Ottawa. Studies have shown that bilingualism is the incubator for acceptance of multiculturalism and diversity. These values mark Canada’s identity. But they also say to the world that the welcome mat is out. Come and visit us; do business with us.

Of course, it will not happen automatically. We will have to develop a culture of bilingualism. We will have to use the two languages. Our businesses and restaurants and institutions and the city itself will have to make greater efforts to use both English and French. Luckily, more than 70 per cent of students in Ottawa’s English language school boards have taken the bull by the horns and are studying in French. They are ready. That is why making Ottawa officially bilingual is no big deal. The people are already there. Costs will not be on the backs of Ottawa’s citizens. There will be more jobs for both English and French. The only change will be that the city’s bilingualism policy will be protected from backsliding by being ensconced in Ontario legislation.

All that is required is that Ottawa city councillors be as courageous and forward looking as their constituents and pass a resolution inviting Ontario to change our municipal legislation to confirm Ottawa’s bilingual status. Then sit back and let our capital city reap the benefits. If you agree, sign the petition at www.bilingualcapital.ca John Trent is a member of Dialogue Canada and a Fellow of the Centre on Governance of the University of Ottawa.

Being a capital with two languages would also help to make Ottawa a global capital and a magnet for world business, tourism and conferences. It would be a money-maker for Ottawa.

French is an anachronistic colonial language that gets way more attention in this country than it deserves. Spanish, Hindi and the Asian languages in addition to English are the languages of modern international commerce and culture. These are the languages we should be embracing, not this odd throwback of the north.

While we're discussing it, how about making Gatineau officially bilingual instead.

AN AJD@PERIDOT NETWORKS25 Feb 2017 10:16 AM

Having, in past, worked on various City of Ottawa committees, I can firmly state - given it is working - do not try to fix it. English-French was actively offered in any meeting, correspondence or face to face. Inquiries were responded to in the language the question was asked. Any requiring the 'other' language for clarification - it was promptly made available.

City of Ottawa does not need the horrendous legal and administrative costs associated with "official bilingualism". It IS working - stop there.

GGracieJack 25 Feb 2017 10:36 AM

Why on earth should Ottawa go the expense and associated drama of official bilingualism to cater to 16% of the population here? Just to make them feel better? Terrible idea.

OPOttawa Public Library customer 25 Feb 2017 10:53 AM

Without even looking at Trent's bio at the end of the article, I knew it had to be written by someone stuck in an ivory tower at a university. Before he wrote his article he would have been well advised to spend some time out in the "real" world of the city of Ottawa to better inform himself of all the pitfalls his uninformed suggestions entail.

Ole'Curmudgeon 25 Feb 2017 10:59 AM

Sure, lets pay homage to a dying variation of a globally dying language. Lets incur the expense and issues that will arise while we protect something that is going to fade away on its own. Sure, makes complete sense. Makes about as much sense and saying we should make Latin our official second language. After all, it is the basis of French and deeply embedded in the development of English. Would that not be more justifiable and cause less conflict? Ridiculous!

ccaffeinehigh 25 Feb 2017 11:11 AM

The City of Ottawa works just fine they way it is."A Fellow of the Centre on Governance of the University of Ottawa" literally translated " I have way too much time on my hands"

PHPeter Haley 25 Feb 2017 3:19 PM

It's not such a great cost, today all City of Ottawa and agencies' documents intended for the public are published in french and english, and its employees can work in either language. I think the overall result would only be symbolic.

WiWhere is Ottawa's identity? 25 Feb 2017 3:45 PM

Ottawa should be bilingual - HOWEVER ONLY WHEN QUEBEC , FIRST RECOGNIZES ENGLISH AS AN ACEEPTABLE LANGUAGE AND THEN MAKES QUEBEC BILINGUAL

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